Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Oregon State University/Genes and Chemicals in Agriculture (Spring 2016)

Overview of the course
Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.

Enroll in this course page! To do so, use the enrollment link provided OR click on the students tab above and click "enroll".
Begin the training modules assigned for your course. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.

Using the guidelines you learned in your Wiki training, choose an article that is related to this course
Please e-mail the topic to Lizzy (axtone oregonstate.edu) with a brief (1-2 sentence) rationale for your choice.

Course meetings

Tuesday, 10 May 2016 | Thursday, 12 May 2016

Review pages 4-7 of the Evaluating Wikipedia brochure. This will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.
Evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to the class, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's talk page.
A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
- Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
- Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
- Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
- Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Course meetings

Tuesday, 17 May 2016 | Thursday, 19 May 2016

Add a minimum of 250 words and 5 new sources to an existing Wikipedia article related to this course.

Write a 1-3 page, single-spaced reflection paper on the Wikipedia assignment
Please address these questions: Why did you choose this article? What are the biggest changes you made to the article? What is your rationale for those changes? What other improvements does this article need in the future? Discuss the importance of free access to information, and communicating science to the general public.
Some others to consider: What would you have done differently? What were the biggest challenges? Do you think you will continue to contribute to Wikipedia as an editor/author? Do you have any advice on how the instructors can improve this assignment?